French cars were once cars that were special in most areas. Either you loved the car or you quickly developed a strained relationship with it.
The French car industry once consisted of many smaller independent car factories. Delahaye was one such factory. It was also one of the oldest car factories in France and showed off its first car in 1895. Like most car manufacturers at the time, car racing was important to make the brand known. The cars from Delahaye won many races and became known for good speed resources and very good driving characteristics. This made the factory one of the country's most significant in the early 1900th century. Delahaye also produced commercial vehicles and that production lasted well into the 1950s. The car brand became a favorite among the upper middle class as it was slightly less expensive than Panhard but had high status due to its results in car racing.
Delahye 235
It took time before the production of luxury cars got underway after the peace in 1945. The first new models were exhibited in Paris in 1946. The model range was mostly modernized pre-war models. At the Paris Motor Show in 1951, the factory presented its new model "235". It was a further developed model based on the model "135" which was produced before the war. It was a beautiful and powerful car that really attracted attention at the exhibition. Mainly because of its lovely lines and several elegant special models produced by independent body factories. But the beautiful appearance could not hide the fact that the car was very old-fashioned technically and that made it a very difficult seller. The tax system for car taxes in France was also very unfriendly to fast luxury cars. The result was that this model from Delahaye cost five times as much as a Citroen "Big Six" and twice as much as a Jaguar XK120. The factory realized that this could not go well in the long run and production stopped in 1954.
Facts Delahaye 235
Length: 465 cm
Width: 173 cm
Top speed: 170 km/h
Engine: 3577 ccm, 152 hp
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Anders de Lange
Anders de Lange writes about car history. He has written about cars and car history for over 30 years, published his own books and written for the Norwegian car press.
The Delahaye 235 convertible built by Chapron shows just how great these cars were. Notice that the car has the steering wheel on the right. It was actually common among noble French brands such as Bugatti, Delahaye, Hotchkiss and Delage. Why? Delahaye was often driven by employed drivers. When the driver sits on the right-hand side, he can open the door for Madame as quickly as possible - because she will be let out on the right-hand side.